- Business
- Sugi Holdings Co., Ltd., a Japan-based holding company founded in December 1976 and headquartered in Obu-City, Aichi, manages the SUGI Pharmacy Group, which operates approximately 2,300 drugstores across Japan focused on community medical care support; the group provides prescription dispensing services handling nearly 20 million prescriptions annually, over-the-counter pharmaceutical sales, health foods, cosmetics, daily necessities, and pet supplies; it offers self-care support including meal delivery, cancer checkups, specific health guidance by nationally certified dieticians, home-visit nursing, mobility and shopping assistance for seniors, preventive programs, and digital health tools like lifestyle disease risk reports; subsidiaries such as SUGI Pharmacy, Hanshin Dispensing, NIHONDO for Kampo medicine counseling, Sugi Wellness for disease prevention services to insurers and individuals, SUGI Medical for medical coordination and visiting nursing stations, and S Trading for Asian market expansion provide specialized healthcare, dispensing, and wholesale operations primarily in Kanto, Chubu, Kansai, Hokuriku, and extending to Hokkaido and Kyushu regions. The company employs 11,820 people consolidated and reported net sales of 878 billion yen for the fiscal year ended February 2025. In recent developments, Sugi Holdings acquired a 34.8% stake in Seki Yakuhin Co., Ltd. in 2025 with plans to increase to 49% for enhanced community healthcare synergies and store network dominance; it expanded into Southeast Asia through a 2024 memorandum with Thailand's PTT Oil and Retail Business Public Co., Ltd., a joint venture with Malaysia's ALPRO ALLIANCE SDN. BHD. in 2023, and partnerships with Vietnam's Omicare and Taiwan's Great Tree Pharmacy; additional moves include acquiring shares in I&H Co., Ltd. and NIHONDO Co., Ltd. as subsidiaries in 2024 and 2023 respectively, forming a joint venture with BLEZ ASIA Co., Ltd. in 2025 for Asian product supply, signing a deal with AC Health in the Philippines, and expanding renewable energy PPAs with Clean Energy Connect to cover 65 stores. The group continues to grow store count, reaching 2,279 by August 2025 with nine new openings that month and 2.4% existing store sales growth, while advancing total healthcare strategies including ICT systems and epilepsy support via KNOCK ON THE DOOR Inc..